Jessica Smith, from Holmeswood Methodist School in Rufford , and Sophie Walmsley, from Westhead Lathom St James, were the two winners with each school receiving a cheque for £500 to enhance their school grounds and the two schoolgirls each receiving £50.

Sponsored by the West Lancashire Freemasons’ Charity, the competition for all junior school children is an opportunity to let children’s imaginations run wild and create their own eco friendly garden, based upon the show’s 'China' theme this year.

Additionally, the two winning gardens will be built from scratch for the show by students of Myerscough College, so the young designers can see their paper drawings come to life.

The "Design-a-Garden" Competition was open to all junior school children in years three, four, five and six and saw more than 819 individual entries submitted from 27 schools in the region.

There were also 10 runners in the competition:

· Keanna Abela, Ashton Primary School

· Yasmin Doherty, Birkdale Primary School

· Ellie Colbeck, Blessed Sacrament Catholic Junior School

· Hannah Paulsen, Bretherton Endowed C of E Primary School

· Dylan Abella, Holland Moor Primary School

· Rebecca Charalambou, Holland Moor Primary School

· Joshua Stewart, Oakhill College Prep School

· Charlotte Wright, Simonstone St Peters Primary School

· Jessica Overton, Simonstone St Peters Primary School

· Caitlin Duffy, Westhead Lathom St James C of E Primary School

The 10 runners up, with families and teachers, will be invited to the show and will receive £50 for their school grounds.

Ray Roukin, General Manager at Southport Flower Show, said: “We've had a huge response to the competition this year and the standard of entries has been really high.

"The competition is a great way to get young people interested in gardening and I've been really impressed by some of the ideas that pupils have used in their designs. I'm looking forward to seeing what the winning gardens look like, once they've been created for this year's show."